"Blastoise!"
Blastoise lowered its body, and the cannons on its shell began wildly firing off water ball shells.
Because the shots were launched at such high speed, the shapes of the water balls distorted mid-flight. The water balls struck the incoming stones and exploded instantly, intercepting the rest of the barrage. The remaining water balls passed straight through the spray and rained down on Rampardos.
Bang!
A water ball slammed into Rampardos. Enduring the pain, Rampardos coated its short claws in a layer of draconic energy, forming a pair of Dragon Claws, and swung them forward, tearing every remaining water ball to pieces.
"Use Double Team and close in on Blastoise."
After two exchanges, Palmer understood that head-on clashes simply couldn't land any effective hits on Blastoise, so he immediately switched to a confusion tactic.
Rampardos charged out, splitting into a series of afterimage clones to disorient its opponent.
But Gary's Blastoise wasn't afraid of Double Team.
Double Team was useless against this Blastoise.
"Blastoise, Aura Sphere!" Gary ordered.
"Blastoise!"
Both of Blastoise's cannons fired, each launching a blue sphere of energy. Once released, the Aura Spheres automatically locked on and homed in on Rampardos.
"What!"
Palmer hadn't expected Blastoise to know Aura Sphere. Worse still, it had launched two at once, which made it extremely difficult to deal with. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and attack head-on.
"Use Zen Headbutt!" Palmer ordered.
At the command, Rampardos charged forward, its entire body wreathed in translucent blue psychic energy.
Bang! Bang!
Aura Sphere was a Fighting-type move, and its energy was suppressed by the psychic power. With Rampardos's unmatched charging force, it knocked both Aura Spheres aside and continued barreling straight toward Blastoise.
"Hydro Pump!"
Bang!!
Blastoise's cannons blasted out two thick columns of water, striking the charging Rampardos head-on and successfully halting its advance.
"What! Dad's Rampardos got stopped!" Barry cried out in horror.
"Raar..."
Rampardos strained with everything it had to push through the Hydro Pump, but it simply couldn't. The psychic energy shrouding its body didn't hold out for long, and under the relentless pressure, the powerful Hydro Pump blasted Rampardos back more than ten meters.
Rampardos itself was bewildered. It could never have imagined that this Blastoise would be strong enough to neutralize its attack so easily.
"Rampardos, use Dig!" Palmer said.
Rampardos burrowed into the ground without any hesitation.
"It's over. Gary's Blastoise is going to use Earthquake!" Ash exclaimed.
"What!"
Barry froze, wanting to warn Palmer, but it was already too late.
"Earthquake!" Gary ordered coldly.
"Blastoise!"
Blastoise wasn't about to miss such a perfect opportunity. The moment it had seen Rampardos dive underground, it was already prepared, and it immediately raised its foot and stomped down on the ground.
Boom...!
Shockwaves rippled outward, causing the surrounding earth to shake violently. Rampardos, tunneling below, took the full force of the Earthquake and was blasted back up to the surface.
"Hydro Pump!"
Gary pressed the attack.
"Use Endure!" Palmer ordered.
Rampardos scrambled to its feet, but just as it stood up, the Hydro Pump arrived and crashed into it.
"Raar...!"
Rampardos's whole body shone with golden light, using Endure to forcibly weather the Hydro Pump's damage.
"Rampardos, use Endeavor!" Palmer ordered.
Rampardos immediately charged toward Blastoise. As long as Endeavor connected, there was still a chance to turn the tables.
"Rampardos!"
"Don't you lose to that Blastoise! Show some backbone!"
"Charge! Charge it down!!"
The spectators who had bet on Palmer winning shouted at the top of their lungs, cheering Rampardos on.
Gary watched the approaching Rampardos and ordered in a low voice, "End the battle. Hydro Cannon!"
"Blastoise!"
Blastoise's cannons condensed a massive surge of water energy. The water compressed inside the barrels, and the enormous energy began transforming into concentrated wave force.
Bang!!
A blast of water carrying tremendous surging power erupted forth. Power was speed—Rampardos had no room to dodge. It was struck head-on by the Hydro Cannon, its body swept away by the torrent.
Boom!!
A plume of white mist rose from the woods more than ten meters away, kicked up by the Hydro Cannon's explosion.
The referee immediately ran over to check Rampardos's condition, then announced loudly: "Rampardos is unable to battle! Blastoise wins!"
"What! That Hydro Cannon is way too unfair! Foul!"
Seeing Rampardos defeated, Barry couldn't help getting defensive.
After all... that was his father's main Pokémon. Barry couldn't accept seeing his dad's Pokémon beaten.
"..."
Dawn was stunned. That final Hydro Cannon from Blastoise was something her Piplup would never be able to pull off in its entire life.
[Piplup: Nonsense. Hydro Cannon can only be learned by the three starters after evolving into their final forms. If I could use it, that would be truly bizarre.]
Palmer walked over and looked down at the defeated Rampardos, genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected this challenger to be so strong.
Recalling the fallen Rampardos, Palmer returned to his position on the field.
"It seems Mr. Scott wasn't lying to me. You really are an exceptional Trainer," Palmer said.
"You're too kind, Mr. Palmer. The match isn't over yet—it's a bit early to be praising me. What if you turn things around?" Gary said.
"Hahaha, now that's the spirit! I haven't met a worthy opponent in a long time. Next, I'm bringing out my trump card—my old partner," Palmer said.
The moment those words left his mouth, the surrounding crowd grew excited.
"The old partner! Dragonite!"
"Dragonite's coming out!"
"Palmer's strongest Pokémon!"
"Palmer, you'd better pull through for me! If you don't, my whole month's salary is going down the drain!"
Since Palmer was the local celebrity of Twinleaf Town, everyone in town knew him—and everyone knew that Palmer's strongest Pokémon was Dragonite.
"Here it comes. Gary might've beaten Rampardos, but there's no way my dad's Dragonite loses," Barry said, having recovered from Rampardos's defeat.
"Really..." Dawn sounded somewhat skeptical.
"Of course it's true! Are you doubting me?"
"No, no. Let's just watch the match."
Dawn knew that if she said anything else unflattering about Palmer, Barry would tear her apart.
"By the way, Barry, want to make a bet on this match? Let's see who wins. I'll bet on Gary. How about a million?" Dawn suddenly suggested.
Barry: →_→!
"What? Don't you believe your dad is invincible?"
"Why... wouldn't I dare?"
Dawn kept up the sarcasm, getting her revenge for earlier.
Barry's face turned red. He wanted to take the bet, but he didn't dare—because Gary was seriously strong. On top of that, Barry knew Gary had a Tyranitar, the pseudo-legendary Pokémon of the Johto region, whose typing completely countered Dragonite.